Mind Games
by Acestar
Summary: Something's up when Peri seems to change moods all too quickly for the Doctor's liking.... a 6th Doctor story


DISCLAIMER: I don't own these characters, the BBC does. I just own the plot, one I've used quite a few times in other situations.  
  
Mindgames  
  
There was no doubt about it in Peri's mind- the Doctor was arrogant, touchy and brash. But he was also courageous, sensitive and ever so slightly mental.. An unusual concoction, but it seemed to work. Having been the only witness to the Doctor's regeneration, Peri had come to expect the weird and wonderful from the Doctor- but not the kind of weird and wonderful she'd seen so far.  
  
The last encounter she'd had with the weird and wonderful was on Telos, as a prisoner of the terrifying cybermen. She'd met the beautiful but fragile survivors of the Cryons and the deceitful ex-commander Litten. It had been too much for her, and obviously had taken its toll on the Doctor, though he was trying to hide it. He had suggested they simply 'cruise round for a bit' to get rid of the strain. But Peri wasn't stupid; she knew why the Doctor had suggested it. He felt guilty at not being able to save Litten from dying after attacking the cyber controller. She wasn't going to argue- he was slippery enough as he was, without being worked up by his sensitive companion.  
  
Instead, she decided to keep out of his way and explore the vast corridor and endless rooms of the TARDIS. There was nowhere he had told her to keep away from, so she assumed she was free to roam around. She knew the Doctor was still trying to repair the chameleon circuit, and he would be focused on that for a while. So she began to wander the stretch of corridors she had never seen..  
  
"Come here you little... Ah! Now you're done for!"  
  
As it was to be expected, the Doctor still hadn't stopped talking to himself as he worked. He found it mildly comforting, and often amusing. Repairing the chameleon circuit presented itself as a challenge, one that the Doctor was more than willing to take on. But it didn't stop his brain from thinking. It thought a lot, about all manner of things. Adventures in his past incarnations, his old companions, his old enemies. it reminded him of the conversation he'd had with Peri on Earth while searching for the source of a distress call..  
  
'In the past couple of days you've called me Tegan, Zoe, Susan. On one occasion you even referred to me as Jamie!' 'Merely slips of the tongue.' 'Either that or they're slips of the mind. And while we're about it- who is this terrible Zoden?'  
  
He smiled his curious half-smile as he remembered what he'd said. "I called you Zoden, did I? Hah! They don't make villains like her any more. A woman of rare gile and devilish cunning!"  
  
Then he remembered how much she accused him of being 'uncaring' or for 'not understanding' when she was scared. He lowered his sonic lance. Maybe he had been a bit hard on her. She was a young human woman, completely unaware of how dangerous the vast web of space and time was. And as the saying goes, she is only human. They were blissfully unaware of time travel and alien races, except in films and T.V shows.  
  
"Sad, really. I mean, half of the 'aliens' the Terrans believe in are huge bug-eyed monsters with scales and a desire to take over Earth!"  
  
Denial always cut in when the Doctor questioned himself. It was an unavoidable thing, and always had been. Besides, it wasn't Peri's fault she was mentally challenged when it came to matters of time and space. Look at the background she'd had.suddenly, something clicked in the Doctor's mind. Where was Peri? "Peri?" he called questioningly. That girl. "Peri!" Maybe she was deliberately ignoring him. "PERI!!"  
  
The door to the sleeping rooms stayed shut. Quite unbeknown to his nature, the Doctor began to worry. Peri was curious, and had every reason to be. But what if she should come across something she shouldn't? What if, and this was very frequent, she discovered a loose panel with tangled wires- and tried to 'helpfully' sort them out?  
  
"PERI!!!"  
  
Still no movement. Anger and impatience began to set in. There was only one thing that would bring Peri straight to his side....  
  
"PERPUGILLIAM BROWN!!"  
  
True to his hypothesis, the Doctor heard the sound of angry footsteps approaching. He laughed to himself and carried on with his intricate repair work. The door to his right burst open, and a red-faced Peri glared angrily at him as he tried hard not to laugh.  
  
"Don't you DARE use that name for me!! I'm Peri! Just Peri!" "But I thought you enjoyed having an unusual name?" replied the Doctor, the air of innocence drilling into Peri's frustrated mind. "I DO! But not when you start yelling it around like I'm some sort of dog to do your dirty work!"  
  
This surprised the Doctor. Peri had never burst out at him like this before. She was so serene. most of the time. so calm. Those were her good qualities. It seemed that Peri noticed it too.  
  
"I'm sorry, Doctor. I just don't like being ordered around." "You haven't seemed to mind before now." "There you go again!" she burst out. "Always trying to have the last word!" "I don't have to try- it seems to come naturally to a man of my talent."  
  
With a strangled cry, Peri stormed out the way she'd come. Suddenly, an idea struck the Doctor.  
  
"Peri?" he called warmly. She returned, face set in an expression of resentment. She stood, arms folded, evidently waiting for another verbal insult. "If you see any loose wires on your travels round the TARDIS, use this."  
  
He tossed her a sonic lance. She roughly flicked her right arm up to catch it, then held it for a moment. By the look on her face, the Doctor could envision ideas of doing some rather unpleasant things with that lance.. She walked back out. The Doctor gave his half smile again.  
  
"Same old Peri!"  
  
So he was more than moderately shocked when, less than five minutes later, she walked back in with her usual, sweet smile on her face. It was rather disturbing.. Lowering his arm slowly to his side, and with a suspicious stare on his face, he advanced cautiously on his companion.  
  
"That was quick, wasn't it?" "Really? I didn't notice."  
  
Panic immediately lept through the Doctor's body. This behavior was too unusual. Peri would never have cooled down her fiery temper this quickly.  
  
"So. am I to be forgiven?" He shot her a questioning glance, watching her as she surveyed his handiwork on the TARDIS's chameleon circuit. "Well, as long as you promise not to call me Perpugilliam again, and you give what you say a little more consideration before you say it, I suppose so."  
  
This was said so cooly and in such an off-hand way that the Doctor half expected an 'only kidding' to come on the end. With more suspicion than ever, he replied in what he thought to be a completely trusting tone. But neither noticed that it sounded more like an accusation.  
  
"That's settled then. Did you find any loose circuits?"  
  
She turned round, a slightly puzzled and even worried look on her face. It took her a moment to answer.  
  
"Oh, no. I didn't get very far." "Indeed..."  
  
Now this was unusual. Usually, when Peri got into one of her moods, she would stalk the rooms and corridors for hours. Just taking this short a time was..worrying.  
  
"Doctor?"  
  
He turned back to her.  
  
"I'm tired. I'm going to go and lie down for a while." "Okay, whatever you like." This unusualness was getting too much for the Doctor. "Oh, and by the way-" she pointed to a circuit set into the panel which she had been surveying. "Red goes to red, not green."  
  
She strode gracefully from the room. It took the Doctor a minute to gather his senses back together and head back to the panel. True enough, the wires were neatly connected to the correct ports, and the circuit had been secured back into the panel. Peri did this? he thought. Well, I certainly didn't...  
  
"I don't see why I should have to help you fix your piece of space junk! Why can't we just go somewhere interesting and NOT dangerous for a change?"  
  
The Doctor froze. "Peri?"  
  
The reply was rough and angry. "Well, who else is there?"  
  
"Still mad at me, then?" he asked warily. "Too right." Came Peri's obstinate answer "But you forgave me a moment ago.."  
  
It was Peri's turn to give a surprised glance. The way she looked at him, he could have been a twelve foot quadruped with seven eyes and purple skin. 


End file.
